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20 August 2008 DURING THE BREAK Federal Parliament resumes next week after almost two months break with the new senators elected last November taking their places for the first time. During the break, I had the opportunity to visit Mackay and the Bowen Basin and, just recently, Cairns and the Torres Strait. The contrast between the coal-rich Bowen Basin and Far North Queensland, where the economy is based largely on tourism, couldn’t be starker. But both suffer from the inattention paid to infrastructure by the Beattie/Bligh Government over the past 10 years. Transport and housing issues were raised in both areas but for very different reasons. In Mackay, transport problems centre on getting exports to the port and out. On the housing front, I was told in Moranbah by Isaac Shire councillors about a management-level local who was outbid on the rent for a reasonable 3-bedroom home. He only offered $900 a week! The house finally rented for $1200 a week. In Cairns, tourism operators are very concerned about impending cuts in direct flights from Japan and other markets, and about water quality on the Reef which is directly affected by land management practices on the mainland. Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, recently announced a modest $23m package to assist farmers to improve run-off quality right along the Reef coast, but there is local scepticism that the money may be used on disjointed, ‘spotty’ projects that do not contribute to overall improvement. I was delighted to have the chance to return to the Torres Strait Islands, an area I first visited during the election campaign in November last year. Basking in the warmth and wonderful views, a Victorian tourist commented on one inter-island trip: “You might as well be in another country.” The trouble is our State and Federal Governments seem to take to same view. There is chronic under-funding of services and training at almost every level. The biggest scandal relates to the State Government’s shameless use of CDEP (Community Development Employment Program) funding to save on the wages bill in the Torres Strait. CDEP is designed to assist unemployed indigenous Australians but, in the Torres Strait, the State Government is using it to save themselves $6 million in wages. Of the 1800 people employed by the two local councils on behalf of themselves and the State Government, 417 receive CDEP funding with a “top-up” of wages from the State Government. CDEP employees include those providing such basic services as teaching staff and community police (the only police on most islands). It’s not a situation that would be countenanced in mainstream Queensland. But the most pressing issue raised by all the leaders I met was the cost-of-living in this remote part of our country. Whilst I was in the Torres Strait, I saw marine fuel at $2.85 a litre. Fishing isn’t just a recreation in this part of the world. It’s a means of earning a living and of feeding the family. I was told freight costs mean the average house costs $600,000 to build. Added to this, the Islands are an AQIS buffer zone, protecting the rest of Australia. It means Islanders cannot keep livestock of any type to supplement their food supplies and that waste management costs are much higher because rubbish, including old cars and whitegoods, cannot be sent from the fragile island environment to the mainland for disposal. I did my own spot survey on Thursday Island comparing the cost of my shopsmart basket of groceries in August with that on the mainland. The same basket cost $64 in Cairns and $91 on Thursday Island! (see report below). Local leaders have asked me to push for an Inquiry into the complex factors affecting the cost of living in the Torres Strait. They suggest that a freight and passenger subsidy similar to the one that delivers $140m a year to Tasmania might assist. I believe they have a strong case for such an Inquiry and will be urging the Senate to take up the issue. SHOPSMART SURVEY The latest grocery price survey from across Queensland for August is now available on the ShopSmart website at www.shopsmart.sueboyce.com.au. The ShopSmart basket of groceries cost $90.78 on Thursday Island in August – almost $30 more than the Queensland average. In our August survey last week the same basket cost $64.03 in Cairns. The Queensland average was $63.04. The ShopSmart website offers more specific and detailed information for Queensland shoppers than the $13 million effort of the Federal Government. I recently gave the Rudd Government’s ‘national’ Grocery Watch website 4 out of 10—good idea, pity about the implementation. Giving consumers last month’s average price for an area stretching from Longreach to Gladstone is useless. On the ShopSmart site, you'll find a monthly comparison of supermarket prices in four Queensland centres. We all know that watching prices doesn’t change them, so the ShopSmart website includes lots of other money saving and financial planning tips as well as a downloadable unit pricing matrix. If you’re interested in being a ShopSmart volunteer shopper in an area we don’t already cover, please call or email the office. LIBERAL NATIONAL PARTY (LNP) FORMED IN QUEENSLAND Congratulations to all the sincere Queensland Liberals and Nationals who voted recently to merge the State parties. The Party was born out of the members’ view that unity on the ‘right’ side of politics was the best chance of beating the Bligh Government at the next State election due by late 2009. To do this the Party will need to win 20 seats, so hopefully media beat-ups about the new Party embracing rural tree clearing and opposing daylight saving will soon give way to thoughtful reporting of policy announcements designed to capture the necessary seats in the south-east. Sunshine Coast academic, Scott Prasser, has written an interesting analysis of Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet structures (go to www.onlineopinion.com.au) and pointed out that, given the growth in SEQ and its accompanying problems, both major parties would benefit from the establishment of a super-Department of Urban Development. THE BUSINESS OF HEALTH In the May budget, the Rudd Government announced major changes to the Medicare Levy Surcharge threshold. The surcharge was designed to encourage people into private health insurance but Labor has announced that singles can earn $100,000 a year (up from $50,000) before they have to take out private health insurance or pay the surcharge. For families, the threshold jumps from $100,000 to $150,000. The Coalition is likely to oppose this in the Senate, and other non-government senators have expressed concerns about the effect this will have on the balance between public and private health care. Under the Coalition Government’s policy, almost 10.9 million Australians (51.1%) have private health insurance. The Medicare levy surcharge was a significant motivator. Coalition questioning in the Senate found the
following: Given the inexcusable length of most public hospital waiting lists, and the pressure likely to be exerted by an extra 500,000+ people, the only explanation I can see for this move by Labor is ideology. Further evidence of this was the extraordinary statement by Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, that “only” the young and healthy would pull out of private health. She either didn’t understand or didn’t care what effect that would have on premiums for those who are less young and less healthy. There are other repercussions with share markets pushing down the value of private health organisations because of increased risk and the prospect of a hostile government. This drop in investor confidence will lead to decreased investment in this industry and will inevitably diminish the ability of the private sector to fund improved health infrastructure. Presumably Labor will believe ‘equity’ has been achieved when the private health system is as dysfunctional as the public system. FUELWATCH WON'T WASH The Rudd Government looks set for its first gruelling negotiation in the new Senate, with the announcement by Family First Senator Steve Fielding and independent Senator Nick Xenophon that they would not be supporting the Government’s "FuelWatch" proposal, as it stands. The monitoring scheme would force petrol retailers to announce fuel prices on a website a day in advance and lock the prices in for 24 hours. Retailers could not raise prices during the day, but they also could not lower them. There are also concerns about the potential to reduce competition in the long term, as major companies target smaller independents. Documents obtained under freedom-of-information show that Assistant Treasurer Chris Bowen sought advice from Treasury on how much a cut in fuel excise would cost the Government even though he ridiculed the proposal by Coalition Leader Brendan Nelson to reduce wholesale prices by five cents per litre. Labor needs the support of the five Greens senators and senators Xenophon and Fielding if it is to pass legislation opposed by the Coalition. WOMEN IN ENGINEERING The 2008 Queensland Resources Council (QRC)-Thiess scholarship for second-year female engineering students has been won by University of Queensland student Rachel Jukes. The scholarship is part of QRC’s Women in Resources Action Plan, aimed at increasing the percentage of women working in the minerals and energy sectors. AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS TAKES A HIT
With the added pressure of international conditions, Australian business has, unsurprisingly, taken the Treasurer at his word. Recent business surveys by the Commonwealth Bank and Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the National Australia Bank have just been released. Business confidence has fallen to the lowest level since the survey began in 1994, and important indicators including sales, employment and investment have all dropped over the past three months. The Commonwealth Bank - Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) business expectations survey shows the expected economic performance index for the June quarter fell to 33.3, significantly lower than the 53.5 in the June 2007 period under the Howard-Costello government, and well below the 49.2 five-year average. The NAB survey shows that business is doing it tough. Forward orders have fallen to their lowest in seven years and capacity utilisation (how efficiently businesses use plant and manpower) has fallen to its lowest in three years. NAB chief economist Alan Oster said: "On balance, firms view conditions as poor. Almost a quarter of firms are reporting poor or very poor conditions. This is an economy that has slowed very, very rapidly. It is weakening much faster than expected in the face of tighter financial conditions, further falls in equity markets, high oil prices and very weak confidence levels. It is not a very nice survey." ALCOPOPS - TAX GRAB OR SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE Reports on the effects of the increased tax on "ready to drink spirits" (RTD's or alcopops) provide an interesting contrast between the Rudd Government's rhetoric about decreasing alcohol consumption and the real world. RTD sales have dropped by 40% but sales of full-strength spirits have risen by 20%. Pre-mixed drinks contain measured, known quantities of alcohol (generally under 10%), and there is anecdotal evidence that inexperienced drinkers, particularly the young, drink more when they mix their own drinks. The Coalition will be opposing the new tax because it’s not aimed at helping young or problem drinkers, just at raising money. Perhaps the most telling point about the Government’s motives was provided by Treasury. Their estimates of raising $3 billion from the new taxes assumed that Australians would keep drinking RTDs at the same rate, not a lower rate. And the Rudd government had vaguely promised that “some” of the new tax would be used on alcohol education programs. According to the liquor industry's alcotaxripoff website, the Federal Government has already collected more than $180 million in extra tax on pre-mixed drinks, even though the Bill has not passed the Senate. The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ latest CPI report notes the increase in the price of spirits – 6.1% in the June quarter – “was predominantly due to the introduction of an increased tax on all pre-mixed spirits from 27 April 2008”. Alcohol abuse is a serious issue and needs to be addressed with care and resolve and a holistic program. GAMBLING IN QUEENSLAND As with alcohol, there is a constant tension between ways to assist gambling addicts without harming others. ClubsAustralia, the umbrella organisation for registered clubs, has presented a six-point plan aimed at problem gambling:
They have also provided the following breakdown on gambling and betting tax contributions to State revenues.
MENZIES RESEARCH CENTRE The Menzies Research Centre has released their eForesight newsletter, together with their new website. It includes a collection of rare audio and video of Sir Robert Menzies. An online forum called called "I Wish The Government Would" invites suggestions and comments on ideas you wish governments would pursue. International relations specialist Professor Alan Dupont analyses Australia's new Defence whitepaper and the distinguished historian Ian Hancock writes on ‘Recurring Themes in Liberal history’. As a member of the Senate Select Committee on State Government Financial Management, I'm very interested in the work the Centre is doing with their StateWatch website, which looks at how the States are spending their record revenues. DO YOU KNOW THE SIGNS OF STROKE?
During National Stroke Week (September 15 to 21), the Stroke Foundation will be distributing wallet cards with the FAST message, which stands for:
If you'd like a wallet card please contact my office and we'll send one out to you. Sue Boyce Liberal Senator for Queensland |
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Having
spent most of the year talking up inflation and talking down the economy,
Treasurer Wayne Swan must now take some of the responsibility for his “success”.